Rural Health Operations Services

North Carolina’s Rural Health Centers provide quality primary medical services in underserved rural communities.

The Office of Rural Health (ORH) was instrumental in the creation of this network of community-owned, nonprofit health centers and continues to support it. Without support from ORH, vulnerable populations including uninsured, underinsured, Medicaid and Medicare patients would lose local access to quality primary health care. This effort greatly decreases patient dependency on emergency departments, which carries a much greater cost.

ORH assists these centers in three ways:

• Supplemental funding to the health center for patients unable to pay for their office visits. This is known as the Medical Access Plan (MAP).
• Capital funding to support the renovation, and equipping of rural health centers.
• A comprehensive package of technical assistance, including oral and behavioral health, accounting and information technology.

Contact

Questions regarding the Rural Health Operations Services may be directed to: Parcheul.harris@dhhs.nc.gov